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2017 Fantasy Football: Positional Rankings

These are my updated ranking through August 11th. These contain everything including a Zeke suspension, Sammy Watkins trade, and Jordan Matthews trade. Understand these rankings are for redraft leagues only, and don't affect keeper or dynasty rankings at all. With Zeke missing the first six games, I can't see drafting him in the first round anymore. I have him ranked as a RB2 in all formats, and see him as a fourth round pick. With Watkins surprisingly traded to the Rams, his value drops significantly. Being tied to an unproven Jared Goff is much worse than Tyrod Taylor. I also feel like Buffalo wouldn't have trade him if Watkins wasn't still having injury issues or issues negotiating a future contract. This trade also lowers Robert Woods' value in Los Angeles.

In Buffalo, the remaining receivers include Jordan Matthews (from Philly), Anquan Boldin, and Zay Jones. With Watkins now gone, their values all increase. I like Boldin the most in Standard scoring because he will be the only red zone threat in town. Jordan Matthews will have good value as the reception receiver and will hold flex value in PPR formats. In Philadelphia, this has opened the door for Nelson Agholor to be the full time slot receiver. After seeing his poor season last year, I can't see him being anything more than an option in very deep leagues. Overall, the biggest losers for fantasy are Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, while the winners are all other Buffalo receivers and Nelson Agholor.

We start off here at Quarterback, which is without a doubt the deepest position in fantasy. Everyone has their different strategies of when to draft the position, but a vast majority of experts will wait at Quarterback. When you can wait until the tenth round and choose between Kirk Cousins, Dak Prescott, and Derek Carr, it’s tough to convince me to draft Aaron Rodgers in the third or fourth round.

However, everything depends on the format of your league and what rules are in place. If it’s a two Quarterback league, feel free to take a Quarterback when ever you would like. I’ve seen a 2 QB mock draft on ESPN, where experts who missed out on the best six players will go with Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady. Quarterbacks also hold more value when a passing touchdown is worth six points instead of four. If your Quarterback throws 30 touchdowns in this scoring format, it’s an additional 60 points for your season.

When you look at just the rankings, you’ll notice that there’s a lot more hype around younger Quarterbacks, and regression for older Quarterbacks (minus Tom Brady and Drew Brees). Perhaps the biggest indicators of this are Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers. Big Ben has sustained big injuries in both of his last two seasons, and has been terrible on the road as of late. Even though Rivers has played all 16 games since 2006, he has had many injuries to his receiver corps in the last two years and has thrown way too many interceptions. Even though these players aren’t hyped up, they can have great fantasy performances as long as you play the matchups correctly. Drafting them as your second QB, or pairing them with someone drafted a couple rounds earlier can pay huge dividends for you. Below are my Quarterback rankings for this upcoming fantasy football season.

Top 32 Quarterbacks for 2017

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Tom Brady, New England Patriots

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons

Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins

Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders

Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Marcus Mariota, Tennessee Titans

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

Philip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers

Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions

Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills

Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars

Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals

Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles

Eli Manning, New York Giants

Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens

Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals

Brian Hoyer, San Francisco 49ers

Sam Bradford, Minnesota Vikings

Jay Cutler, Miami Dolphins

Mike Glennon, Chicago Bears

Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs

Trevor Siemian, Denver Broncos

Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans

Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams

Cody Kessler, Cleveland Browns

Tom Savage, Houston Texans

Running back is always a tough position to draft in fantasy because of the volatility of production and injuries. Just because a running back is being drafted in the first round, doesn’t mean he will return that value. In fact, many experts firmly believe that running backs should not be drafted until the later rounds of the draft. This allows fantasy players to load of wide receivers, and address Quarterback and tight end earlier than other owners. Just look at the top ten running backs for this season, only six of my top ten ranked running backs went in the first rounds of drafts last season. That doesn’t even necessarily mean that provided top 30 pick value, but that at their ceiling that is the value they should produce this season.

Now even amidst the strategies of waiting on running backs, I feel we have to continue to draft running backs highly. There are only a few running backs who are considered true bellcow backs, and they provide great fantasy value. Last season, the best wide receivers went first overall in drafts, but the outstanding production from Le’Veon Bell, David Johnson, and Ezekiel Elliott has shot them up to the top of draft boards. Because there are so few bellcow backs in the league, they are all being drafted in the first two or three rounds. Even though the position is the riskiest in fantasy, missing out on this kind of production can badly hurt your fantasy season because of the number of running back committees in the league.

Top 50 Running Backs for 2017 (Standard Scoring)

David Johnson, Arizona Cardinals

Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers

LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills

Devonta Freeman, Atlanta Falcons

Melvin Gordon, Los Angeles Chargers

Jordan Howard, Chicago Bears

Jay Ajayi, Miami Dolphins

DeMarco Murray, Tennessee Titans

Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams

Marshawn Lynch, Oakland Raiders

Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville Jaguars

Lamar Miller, Houston Texans

Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys

Isaiah Crowell, Cleveland Browns

Carlos Hyde, San Francisco 49ers

Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints

Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers

Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals

Mike Gillislee, New England Patriots

Ty Montgomery, Green Bay Packers

Spencer Ware, Kansas City Chiefs

Frank Gore, Indianapolis Colts

Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings

LeGarrette Blount, Philadelphia Eagles

Robert Kelley, Washington Redskins

Eddie Lacy, Seattle Seahawks

C.J. Anderson, Denver Broncos

Bilal Powell, New York Jets

Ameer Abdullah, Detroit Lions

Tevin Coleman, Atlanta Falcons

Paul Perkins, New York Giants

Terrance West, Baltimore Ravens

Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Adrian Peterson, New Orleans Saints

James White, New England Patriots

Theo Riddick, Detroit Lions

Danny Woodhead, Baltimore Ravens

Jacquizz Rodgers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Darren Sproles, Philadelphia Eagles

Kareem Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs

Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals

Jalen Richard, Oakland Raiders

Matt Forte, New York Jets

Giovani Bernard, Cincinnati Bengals

Samaje Perine, Washington Redskins

Thomas Rawls, Seattle Seahawks

Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers

Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans

Jonathan Williams, Buffalo Bills

James Conner, Pittsburgh Steelers

Top 50 Running Backs for 2017 (PPR Scoring)

Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers

David Johnson, Arizona Cardinals

LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills

Devonta Freeman, Atlanta Falcons

Melvin Gordon, Los Angeles Chargers

DeMarco Murray, Tennessee Titans

Jordan Howard, Chicago Bears

Jay Ajayi, Miami Dolphins

Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams

Lamar Miller, Houston Texans

Marshawn Lynch, Oakland Raiders

Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville Jaguars

Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys

Carlos Hyde, San Francisco 49ers

Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers

Isaiah Crowell, Cleveland Browns

Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints

Ty Montgomery, Green Bay Packers

Bilal Powell, New York Jets

Danny Woodhead, Baltimore Ravens

Spencer Ware, Kansas City Chiefs

Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings

Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals

Ameer Abdullah, Detroit Lions

Theo Riddick, Detroit Lions

Frank Gore, Indianapolis Colts

Tevin Coleman, Atlanta Falcons

Paul Perkins, New York Giants

C.J. Anderson, Denver Broncos

Eddie Lacy, Seattle Seahawks

Mike Gillislee, New England Patriots

Terrance West, Baltimore Ravens

Robert Kelley, Washington Redskins

Duke Johnson Jr., Cleveland Browns

Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Darren Sproles, Philadelphia Eagles

James White, New England Patriots

LeGarrette Blount, Philadelphia Eagles

Jalen Richard, Oakland Raiders

Giovani Bernard, Cincinnati Bengals

C.J. Prosise, Seattle Seahawks

Adrian Peterson, New Orleans Saints

Chris Thompson, Washington Redskins

Jacquizz Rodgers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Kareem Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs

Samaje Perine, Washington Redskins

Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans

Matt Forte, New York Jets

Rex Burkhead, New England Patriots

Shane Vereen, New York Giants

Wide Receiver is often the most consistent position in fantasy from a production standpoint. The reason that players like Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, and Odell Beckham Jr. have been first or second round picks in each of the last three seasons is because of their consistent high level of production. However, this doesn’t mean that wide receivers can’t always live up to expectations. I previously wrote an article shown here, that illustrates the issues regarding all receivers going in the third or fourth rounds of drafts, and what is holding them back from being a WR1. Receivers don’t always get the consistent touches that running backs get, so there can be a fairly low floor on a week to week basis. However, overall the numbers wide receivers are expected to produce are often very consistent. The biggest concerns in drafts are navigating injury history, poor Quarterback play, and ultimately finding the diamond in the rough.

The rankings below are for standard scoring, which traditionally favors running backs over receivers. This is because points are not allotted per touch, so the scoring is seriously dependent on touchdowns. Even though more and more teams are throwing inside the 10 yardline, teams ideally would like to run the ball in for six. This scoring system increases the value in big play threats and red zone threats, like Ted Ginn Jr., Donte Moncrief, and Eric Decker. It also lowers the fantasy value in receivers that catch a lot of passes but don’t have a high touchdown total, like Julian Edelman, Jarvis Landry, and Golden Tate. This is taken into account in the rankings below, and should part of your thought process on draft day.

Top 50 Wide Receivers 2017 (Standard Scoring)

Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers

Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons

Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants

Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals

Jordy Nelson, Green Bay Packers

T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts

Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints

Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys

Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders

Brandin Cooks, New England Patriots

Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks

Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos

DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans

Alshon Jeffery, Philadelphia Eagles

Allen Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars

Michael Crabtree, Oakland Raiders

Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers

Terrelle Pryor Sr., Washington Redskins

Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers

Golden Tate, Detroit Lions

Jarvis Landry, Miami Dolphins

Julian Edelman, New England Patriots

Emmanuel Sanders, Denver Broncos

Stefon Diggs, Minnesota Vikings

Pierre Garcon, San Francisco 49ers

Sammy Watkins, Los Angeles Rams

Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs

Jamison Crowder, Washington Redskins

Donte Moncrief, Indianapolis Colts

Martavis Bryant, Pittsburgh Steelers

Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals

Mike Wallace, Baltimore Ravens

Brandon Marshall, New York Giants

Kelvin Benjamin, Carolina Panthers

Anquan Boldin, Buffalo Bills

Eric Decker, Tennessee Titans

Jordan Matthews, Buffalo Bills

Cameron Meredith, Chicago Bears

Willie Snead, New Orleans Saints

Tyrell Williams, Los Angeles Chargers

Jeremy Maclin, Baltimore Ravens

Rishard Matthews, Tennessee Titans

DeSean Jackson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Ted Ginn Jr. New Orleans Saints

Zay Jones, Buffalo Bills

Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings

Kenny Britt, Cleveland Browns

Corey Coleman, Cleveland Browns

Corey Davis, Tennessee Titans

The rankings below are for PPR scoring, which traditionally favor receivers more than running backs. This is because any player who catches a pass automatically receives a point for the receptions, and a point per 10 yards. Even though this rule doesn’t only help out receivers, this position is the primary beneficiary. This will bump up the value of receivers who catch a lot of passes but aren’t big touchdown threats, like Julian Edelman, Jarvis Landry, and Golden Tate. However, this format also decreases the value of big play threats, like Ted Ginn Jr., Kenny Stills, and Marvin Jones. This is all important to take into consideration on draft day, and focus on understanding your league’s rules.

Top 50 Wide Receivers 2017 (PPR Scoring)

Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers

Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons

Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants

A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals

Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jordy Nelson, Green Bay Packers

T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts

Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints

Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys

Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders

Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks

Brandin Cooks, New England Patriots

Jarvis Landry, Miami Dolphins

Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos

DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans

Julian Edelman, New England Patriots

Brandin Cooks, New England Patriots

Emmanuel Sanders, Denver Broncos

Golden Tate, Detroit Lions

Michael Crabtree, Oakland Raiders

Alshon Jeffery, Philadelphia Eagles

Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers

Terrelle Pryor Sr., Washington Redskins

Allen Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars

Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers

Stefon Diggs, Minnesota Vikings

Pierre Garcon, San Francisco 49ers

Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals

Jamison Crowder, Washington Redskins

Martavis Bryant, Pittsburgh Steelers

Donte Moncrief, Indianapolis Colts

Willie Snead, New Orleans Saints

Sammy Watkins, Los Angeles Chargers

Brandon Marshall, New York Giants

Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs

Jeremy Maclin, Baltimore Ravens

Jordan Matthews, Buffalo Bills

Mike Wallace, Baltimore Ravens

Anquan Boldin, Buffalo Bills

Kelvin Benjamin, Carolina Panthers

Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings

Cameron Meredith, Chicago Bears

Rishard Matthews, Tennessee Titans

DeSean Jackson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Eric Decker, Tennessee Titans

Zay Jones, Buffalo Bills

Kenny Britt, Cleveland Browns

Randall Cobb, Green Bay Packers

Corey Coleman, Cleveland Browns

Corey Davis, Tennessee Titans

Tight End is always a tricky position to draft for fantasy players who aren’t positive what they’re doing. Despite having a strong class of consistent studs in the middle of drafts, players seem to either draft an injury-prone star in the beginning or wait until the last few rounds. The important thing to understand where you are drafting each tight end option. If you look at the top tight ends in Gronk and Jordan Reed, both are being drafted at their ceiling. The concern however is that Gronk hasn’t played a 16 game season since 2011, and Reed never has. This makes these players incredibly boom or bust options, but if they’re falling in drafts, it’s really tough not to pull the trigger.

However, a majority of fantasy experts in the industry don’t care to waste early picks on tight ends. Most of us seem to focus our first five or six rounds completely on running backs and wide receivers. This means we will likely miss out on the top six tight end options, and we’ll wait until the final rounds for the position. This shouldn’t be a concern though because many of these options aren’t being drafted at their ceiling. Just look at Kyle Rudolph, who was the number two tight end in PPR formats last season, and is now being drafted as the 7th or 8th tight end off the board. A lot of these sleeper options are being drafted somewhere in between their normal expectations and their floor, which means these options have lots of upside. Just think about Jack Doyle with no Dwayne Allen in Indy, or Eric Ebron with no more Anquan Boldin in Detroit. All of these options from TE9-TE15 have tremendous upside without having to use a high draft pick on them. This is why so many experts love to wait on the position.

But enough of all this strategy, it all depends how your draft board falls to you. Even though I like waiting at the position, if you love Rob Gronkowski, then take him (or trade for him after he gets injured a couple weeks in). Below are my rankings for Tight Ends in both Standard and PPR formats.